Sunday, August 20, 2006

'Hawks win!

Yeah, it's preseason and I've been doing this Seahawks fan thing for nearly 24-years, so I'm used to it. Nothing new here. Yet, 'tis the season for proselystizing and making new fans. What better time to do it than during the preseason just months after the 'Hawks made it to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history? My wife is not quite there yet. She still thinks there are two seasons: Football Season and Her Season.

One person I've successfully converted to the Rebel Alliance is my 4-year-old nephew. That was no small feat. The odds were stacked against it: His father is a Steelers fan and they live in Denver. Somehow (divine intervention can be the only answer), my influence was able to take root in his heart and a lifelong devotion to the Seahawks is almost complete.

He now stops me in midsentence while speaking on the phone and asks, "Wait. Are you for the Seahawks or the Steelers?" When assured of my commitment to the 'Hawks he answers with an approving, "Good." But that's not it.

I was recently told he stood up in a restaurant in Denver and, with all his might, yelled, "Yaaaaay Seahawks! Boooo Broncos!" Not only is he fan, he's a fan with brass cojones - at 4, nonetheless. (sniff, sniif) It's enough to make one the proudest uncle in the world.

Game on!